ArHi FF || Serendipity #5 || CH 59 Pg 136 (JAN 16TH 2017) (new update) - Page 83

"Would you pardon us for a second?"

Arnav politely interrupted Anjali in the middle of what looked like a painfully lengthy rambling, motioning for Khushi to step aside with him. The wedding reception was winding down, with only close friends and family still lingering at the venue.

 Despite Anjali's many efforts, Arnav had refused to stay in New York after the wedding. AR Corporation was hurting deeply, and with Aman in New York and Akash in Switzerland, was in urgent and desperate need of his undivided attention. He looked at his watch impatiently as Khushi embraced his sister again, reassuring Anjali that she did not need to worry about pending payments on her wedding day.

Ultimately it was Aman who had to drag his wife away from the unending conversation, catching the growing frustration in his boss's, and now brother-in-law's, light eyes. He caught the fleeting look of gratitude and smiled. Gratefulness was a rare look for Aman's highly unforgiving multimillion-owning boss, and one that Aman had long ago come to associate with situations where one very special, very paagal woman was involved.

"Khushi," Arnav said, as she finally joined him in a quieter corner of the hall. "I'm leaving."

They both knew that this was their last and final goodbye, and the resulting tension in the air was palpable. Khushi suddenly felt bewildered as to what she should say to someone whose feelings she could not return. But she wanted to express the gratitude she felt, that he had finally, and surprisingly quite graciously, stopped competing with the man who now had her heart. But what to say? How to say it?

"You don't need to," he answered her unspoken deliberation with a smile, "I don't expect to hear anything from you."

"Arnav, I--"

"I love you, Khushi."

He greeted the resulting silence more than happily, satisfied that she had not begun hurling abuses and venom. Reciprocation had never been a possibility he had expected anyways.

"I love you more than I love anyone or anything in the world. But I'm done fighting for you. I don't want to fight for something that'll only make you miserable. Just... just please stay happy. I hope you and Tarang and both your girls get every damn thing that you could possibly dream of. And that's basically it; that's all I wanted to say."

Khushi Gupta had been raised by her father and mother to be a good person. A very good person. Perhaps one of the best people the world had to offer.

And that was why, in that single moment, she decided to forget and forgive every wrongdoing that Arnav Singh Raizada had done upon her life. She wrapped her arms around him with the warmest smile she could muster, continuing to hold him despite the growing tension she felt under her palms, waiting until he was able to relax and hug her back in earnest. After all, it had been her Bau Ji that had taught her, that forgiveness never made a person small, but all the stronger.

 She decided that at this closing juncture, when she was bidding her final farewell to Arnav Singh Raizada, that she would take his happier memories with her-- memories of a decent, family man who had tragically succumbed to his own demons.

A man who had bought silver coins to slip into her detergent packets.

A man who had safe kept her payal within his drawer, and been kind enough to return it.

A man who had filled the sky with a hundred doves, had given flight to a little girl's wishes.

A man who had paid off every last cent when her father had been hospitalized.

A man she had admired enough to think herself in love with.

They broke apart and she touched his shoulder kindly, happy to see the first traces of amity in his eyes. They were clear, unfazed, and serene. A wonderful, deep brown that she recognized from her younger, sleepless nights.

"Take care, Arnav. I truly wish you find your peace"

And thus with a last nod and squeeze of hand, Khushi Gupta left to find her family and go back home.

_____________________________

He looked at his phone and smiled, rereading the text that Sharika had sent him for what was perhaps the tenth or twelfth time. It had been a long while since Arnav had pursued a woman, and it would be perhaps the first time that he would be doing it tactfully. He didn't want to ruin this fleeting chance at sanity; he didn't want to catapult himself into another six years of the most torturous hell, just because being an asshole had become second nature to him. The thought made him chuckle.

Catching his reflection in the elevator's mirrored walls, however, made his smile dwindle. His withdrawal following Khushi's disappearance had not only impaired him mentally, but physically as well. For the first time in many years, he scrutinized the dark circles beneath his eyes, the ungroomed beard and overgrown hair. The wrinkles around his eyes were new, as were the light traces of white in his hair.

Suddenly feeling strangely insecure, he lifted the phone to his face again.

"Don't leave without saying goodbye, Arnav. I'm waiting for you in the lobby."

His thoughts veered back to her, dressed in that sophisticated black sari, hair falling in tight ringlets down to her waist. She was the same age as him, but did not at all look the part, with dark, smooth skin and midnight eyes. For a moment he was tickled by the irony-- that Sharika and Tarang would've looked striking together. Tall, dark, spirited, comical and blessed with the best of the gene pool. And similarly, him and Khushi--

No, Arnav. Don't do it.

He immediately stopped his thoughts from venturing into this dangerous territory, especially not now, when he had been working so hard to distance himself from her and said his farewells in the best possible way he could imagine. He focused again on Sharika, the insanely beautiful, intelligent woman who had teased his senses and excited him again.  

But it was easier said than done, however, because the moment the elevator reached the ground floor and those mirrored doors chimed open in arrival, his breath fled his lungs.

Arnav Singh Raizada could not breathe. He could not move. He could not think.

For Khushi Gupta, a woman whom he had finally come to associate with strength and resilience and power, was trembling in breathtaking agony within the arms of her husband.

And as he moved towards her and came close enough to hear the soft words leaving her lips, Arnav's newly balanced world tilted off its axis.

"They took her, Tarang. My baby girl is gone. Kinara is gone."

 _________________________

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT: L U C K 

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P.S Chapter 58 is ready to go. I hate being this person, but I promise to post it right when this chapter hits 100+ likes. I would never do dhamki to you wonderful people, but when I post the next update too quickly, the previous gets abandoned with few likes and feedback 😊  So don't hold back!